The pulse width modulator is a central element of any power conversion system. Most switching power converters are based on Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) as means to control efficient conversion between domains (DC or AC).
A typical power converter may include a PWM modulator, a switching power conversion stage, a filter and a control system. A prior art system of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,396 and by Mr. Attwood in Journal of the AES, November 1983. p. 842–853. However, PWM has a range of shortcomings also well known to the art, mainly due to the implementation of the carrier generation. This limits the system bandwidth and complicates design. Also, a stable and robust control system design is difficult.
In order to overcome these drawbacks, a controlled oscillating modulator (COM) was introduced in the applicant's international patent application PCT/DK97/00497. The disclosed modulator eliminates the need of a carrier generator, with a range of advantages, described in detail in said document.
A problem with this technique is that it can only synthesize standard two level modulation—hence giving disadvantages concerning the efficiency of the amplifier.
Another problem arises in multi channel systems such as multi channel audio amplifiers, the oscillating modulators will have oscillation frequency variations, which will cause intermodulation products, adding distortion components within the audio bandwidth. A prior art system for synchronizing an oscillating modulator to an external clock is given in U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,693. This prior art system can only comprise a sawtooth or a triangular signal shape as synchronization signal eliminating possibilities to use COM modulator signals as synchronization signals. Furthermore the system can only synchronize a modulator to an external clock leading to higher complexity when implementing an external clock generator.
In multilevel systems such as, but not limited to PSCPWM systems (as described in applicants international patent application PCT/DK98/00133), the first harmonic of the carrier is not present at the output, and said COM modulator can thereby not be used.